It is a common practice to carry clothing which is suspended on one or more conventional hangers by grasping the hooked end of the hanger with the fingers and holding the hanger at a sufficient height to avoid dragging the clothing across the ground. If it is necessary to walk any significant distance, this manner of carrying the coat hanger and clothing can be uncomfortable. It is a common practice, particularly among travelers at airports, to carry clothing contained in garment bags by grasping the hooks of the coat hangers in front of the body while draping the garment bag over the shoulder and across the back. This manner of carrying clothing also may become uncomfortable because the wire frames of the hooks tend to dig into the flesh of the fingers causing fatigue and soreness.
A further problem results when the garment bag is no longer being carried and is set on the ground, such as when waiting to board an airplane. It is not uncommon for the weight of the garments to cause one or more of the hooks to slip down inside the garment bag. Thus when it comes time to again carry the bag, it is necessary for the user to open the garment bag and reinsert the hanger hook upward through the opening in the garment bag.
A number of apparatus for suspending or carrying coat hangers have been disclosed. For instance, in U.S. Pat. No. 2,355,705 by Cohn, there is disclosed a coat hanger suspension device having a number of end-to-end loops which form a cordlike structure having balls mounted at opposite ends of the cord. The combination of the loops and balls act to suspend a hanger which does not have a hook.
Hooker, in U.S. Pat. No. 3,313,460 discloses a device for carrying one or more coat hangers including an oval handle to which there is slidably mounted a first ring which is connected by a shaft to a second ring for receiving the hooks of one or more coat hangers.
In U.S. Pat. No. 3,712,525 by McFarland, there is disclosed a suitbag carrier including a handle to which is swivelly mounted a flange having a plurality of holes for receiving the hooks of wire coat hangers.
Eason, in U.S. Pat. No. 3,112,050 discloses a plastic handle covering for the wire hook of a clothes hanger.
A clothes hanger assembly is disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 3,731,809 by Sanger which includes an upper hooked portion which is adapted to be placed over a conventional support bar and a lower flanged portion having a plurality of slots for receiving clothes hanger hooks.
There is disclosed by Hill in U.S. Pat. No. 3,848,787, a tubelike device for carrying hanging bags, including a curved bar which is supported across the shoulder and which extends forward of the user to form a handle portion, and a rearward portion which includes a number of openings for receiving hanger hooks therein.
A device for carrying hangers is disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 3,961,734 by Threeton, Sr., and which includes an upper hook-like carrying handle and a lower portion having slots for receiving hanger hooks.
Also in Dock, U.S. Pat. No. 4,288,012, there is disclosed a one piece carrying handle for a number of coat hangers including a housing having a handle portion and a slotted curved portion for supporting a number of the hanger hooks.
Finally in U.S. Pat. No. 4,342,479 by Hofer, there is disclosed a hanging bag device for a garment bag including a hooked member having a downwardly extending shaft about which is swivelly mounted a contoured carrying handle.